John Rankine

You well might say no ordinary fellow
For he is one who has travelled far and wide
He's been to India, Tibet and China
And seen some of Britain's greenest countryside.

A character in the true sense John Rankine
With dark brown crew cut hair and eyes as dark as coal
Well educated yet he's not a highbrow
And he's one you'd find hard to pigeon hole.

He has one child a teenage daughter Tara
And I have heard him sing her praises loud
She is one of extraordinary talents
And of her he feels justifiably proud.

He may be fifty and in years advancing
And in his hair you can see bits of gray
But he has hopes and great dreams for his future
And one can't say he's known a better day.

Robert Burns in verse lauded his Scottish namesake and ancestor
And links to Australian Aboriginals he too can trace
But John Rankine in his own right is an Aussie
And one who believes in the equality of race.

John Rankine not your average sort of fellow
Though a few pots of coopers ale he does enjoy
A chatty bloke he has a restless spirit
And he's one you would find hard to classify.